


What we need

by ChloeDevanport



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alfred Pennyworth is a Saint, Alfred Pennyworth is the Best, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Batfamily (DCU), Batfamily (DCU) Feels, Batfamily Angst (DCU), Batfamily Drama (DCU), Bruce Wayne Has Issues, Bruce Wayne Needs a Hug, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Caring Batfamily (DCU), Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Jason Todd Deserves Better, Jason Todd Feels, Jason Todd is Robin, Jason Todd is a Batfamily Member, Protective Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake Gets a Hug, Tim Drake Needs a Hug, Tim Drake is Robin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-14 07:54:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29539203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChloeDevanport/pseuds/ChloeDevanport
Summary: When Bruce comes home with another orphan under his wing, his daughter isn't very fond of seeing the potential new Robin. It's not what she wants and certainly not what she wished for. But maybe...just maybe it's exactly what she needs right now. What they need right now...
Relationships: Jason Todd/Original Character(s), Jason Todd/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 4





	1. The ghosts of Wayne Manor

It's been a year. A whole fucking year and the pain was still there. 

It's not like she thought it would've been gone by now. More like...she hoped it would become less. But that wasn't the case. It hurt just as much as it did the day he died. The day she lost him, the day the Joker took him from her. The day Batman failed. She didn't want to blame her father...she knew it wasn't his fault. But my god it was so easy to say that it was. He even blamed himself, said it would've been his job to protect him, to make sure he was safe. And yet he died, beaten and broken and without hope. 

And so she gave in and the hate started to nestle inside her heart. Hate against her father and the worst part of it was...he let her. He took all the gruesome words she threw at him, all the dark glares full of sorrow. Every time she lost it, every time she stormed out of the room, raging at him, screaming that Jason died because of him and that she would never forgive him. And he just sat there, staring blankly at his own hands and he accepted it. But not once he tried to explain something, not once he tried to soothe her aching soul, not once he tried to be the father she needed so desperately. 

And that was just the tip of the iceberg. 

Jason's death had a far larger effect. Wayne Manor felt like an empty shell, haunted by the ghosts of the past. The house was just too big and too cold to feel like a home. It felt more like a prison that was punishing both of them. Eternal doom, made for the two of them. And each day the hate was dwelling further inside of her. 

And her father? Well, not only the criminals noticed that Batman had become more violent, darker. Even Commissioner Gordon expressed some worries but of course Bruce didn't care. He never did. At least he never showed it. He just wanted to drown all the guilt that was slowly suffocating him, robbed him of his sleep, and destroyed his family. Yes, the screaming and the fighting had ebbed off but the silence that followed was only worse. Now his daughter wouldn't even look at him. She became a wandering echo, a whiff of something he couldn't get a grip on. She drifted away and he didn't know how to reach her. 

Alfred was the only thing left that kind of connected them. When Bruce wanted to know how his daughter was doing, even though he always knew what the answer was gonna be, he sends Alfred to her. Sometimes with a cup of tea or a hot chocolate, but everything that came back was the old butler who sadly shook his head and the cup that hadn't been touched. Bruce didn't know what to do anymore. Surely, he's never been father of the year but why wasn't he able to at least provide a little bit of emotional sheltering for his own daughter? 

"Maybe it would have been better if she stayed with her mother...", Bruce mumbled while he sat in the Batcave, while Alfred took care of his newest injuries. "Master Bruce, you can't be serious. I know Miss Knight was her mother, but she was a criminal." "I know but...look at her. I destroyed her. I never was the father she needed...the father she deserved." Bruce gazed upon the cave and stopped when he saw Jason's old uniform. Locked behind glass, put there as a warning. A display of his greatest failure. 

"I know there are things which could've been done in a different way but...it's not too late.", Alfred said and took a step back. "You can still be her father. It doesn't even take that much. Just go upstairs, walk into her room and hug her. Sometimes that's all that is needed." Bruce huffed quietly and pulled down his sleeve. "I fear this time you're wrong old friend. She hates me and sadly she has every right to do so." "And you think leaving it like that is the right way?" Alfred raised an eyebrow and Bruce turned his head away. When Alfred looked at him like that he felt like his ten-year-old self that sneaked out of bed at night to steal some chocolate from the kitchen. 

"No...but I would need a miracle to save what is left of her." "To save both of you, Master Bruce." He pressed his lips together. Of course, there was no way he could hide it from the man who basically raised him. Of course, Alfred would notice that he was on edge. That he would let the criminals beat him up for good before he fought back in a brutal way. 

"You may think that you deserve that pain because you couldn't save the boy. But the real strength is not to swallow your grief but to work through it. To be strong enough to overcome it. I thought you learned that lesson years ago." Alfred took his medical tools and put them back into the old leather bag. "But who am I to judge?" He turned away and Bruce got back into his armored costume. 

The night wasn't over yet and there was still a lot more patrolling to do. He headed back to the batmobile and stopped for a second. Maybe when he got back...he would try and talk to her. The last time he saw her was yesterday cause he was drowning himself in work and almost spent all of his time in the Batcave when it wasn't necessary to play nice as Bruce Wayne. But she looked awful, as awful as he felt with her eyes being red from nightly crying and her skin pale from spending every second inside her room. Although Alfred told him that sometimes she snuck out at night to wander the streets of Gotham, with no real destination in mind. Of course, he looked over her when she did that, protected her from inside the shadows cause let's face it...he wouldn't be able to take another loss. 

Bruce closed the roof of the batmobile and drove back into the town, swallowed by darkness as soon as he left the cave.

Some time later...

"Master Richard called again.", Alfred said while he served dinner. Or at least he would but only one person was sitting at the big long table. "Again?", Aurora sighed, staring at the plate before her. "You should talk to him. He sounded very worried." "I know that he's worried, but there's nothing he can do for me." She pushed the plate aside and took the crystal glass instead. Alfred closed his eyes for a moment. "Should I get the wine or the brandy Miss?" "Uhm I'll take the wine, it's still a bit early for the brandy.", Aurora said and rolled the stem of the glass between her fingertips. 

Dick called almost every day since Jason died. He also visited the mansion far more often than before. She didn't know if he was feeling guilty that he left the family to finally step out of Batman's shadow or if he actually cared for her. When he was still Robin they were close. Almost as close as siblings, Dick acting like her older brother who always tried to protect her. But when he became Nightwing and started dating Kori he slowly detached himself from Batman and his overbearing nature. And he also, without noticing, detached himself from Aurora. It didn't feel like a loss...at least it didn't back then. 

"You should call him nonetheless. I'm sure he would respect your wish not to talk about...about the incident." Alfred poured the wine into the glass and a dying smile hushed across Aurora's face. The incident, that's what Alfred called it. In trying not to remind her of Jason's horrible death he started acting like it was a taboo to even say his name. "Okay...maybe I'll call him back. Tomorrow." Aurora took the glass. "Thank you, Miss, I know it's been a very hard year for you and your father but maybe talking to Master Richard will bring a little bit of light into all of this darkness."

Just as the old butler had finished his sentence, a strike of lightning flashed through the dark night sky and painted pale shadows all over the dining room. "Well, look who still loves a dramatic entrance...", Aurora hissed, looking at the broad black figure, that was standing in the door. "Master Bruce, you're back and..." Alfred stopped for a second. "And you're not alone."


	2. Little wings and broken things

Shivering with cold and maybe a little fear, a small figure emerged from Bruce's large shadow. It was a boy, maybe eleven or twelve years old, with longish black hair that was wet from the pouring rain outside and big blue eyes. Not as blue as Jason's though. Aurora looked up. "You really do have a type, do you?" Her voice was dripping with disgust and repressed anger. Bruce pressed his lips together before he swallowed his words and said something different instead. 

"His name is Tim. He's going to stay with us." 

"Oh, another boy's life you can waste, great choice dad." Aurora put her glass down with so much force that some of the wine spilled onto the white tablecloth. "You will treat him with kindness and moderate your tone, young lady.", said Bruce and took off his cowl. Aurora raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious? I was never the problem, I treated them like family but they were just a pastime for you, weren't they?" "Watch your mouth Aurora.", Bruce growled, trying not to get loud. Aurora saw how he clenched his fists, but she wasn't gonna back down now. Not this time. "Why? Because I'm right? Because you know that you're gonna ruin him, just like the others? Or is this an apology? A replacement for Jason?" 

Silence, like a dagger, pierced through the air. No one was saying a word, but that wasn't necessary. Bruce's look and the way he flinched when Aurora ended her sentence said everything. If this was a normal fight he maybe would've slapped her in the face. His common way to correct the behavior of his children because words were...well because words were hard sometimes. But this wasn't just a normal fight and Bruce knew he had no right to hurt his daughter just because he wanted her to shut up...because the words she said carried a painful truth.

"Alfred? Please go and make sure Tim eats something. I'm certain he's hungry." Bruce's voice sounded unusually soft and slightly broken. "Of course Master Bruce.", Alfred nodded and slowly moved to Tim, who now looked even more scared. "Come with me, young man." In his welcoming and warm manner, he held out a hand to Tim, who hesitated for a moment and then gave Alfred a weak smile. Together they disappeared into the kitchen, leaving the stretched atmosphere of the dining room.

Aurora crossed the arms in front of her. "What? No sermon? Nothing? You're just gonna stand there and say nothing?" Bruce looked away, didn't dare to meet her eye. He knew she was angry, angry and sad and disappointed. But Tim wasn't just a stand-in for Jason. Tim was...a second chance. A way to finally do better. To prove that he was capable of doing more than just ruining every life he ever stepped into. 

"Fine. But I'm not gonna be there when you bury him." Aurora turned around and left. A few moments later he heard her door being closed. 

"Fuck..."

Aurora leaned against her door and took a deep breath. That boy...Tim. He reminded her of Dick, of Jason. He was just like them. A poor lost soul, too small and too weak to survive on its own. 

And Bruce being Bruce took him in, because he would never want a kid to experience the same pain he did when he lost his parents. 

But what about me?, she asked herself. Wasn't she also a little scared kid when her mother left her and Bruce had no other choice than to take care of her? But maybe...maybe that was the point. Bruce wanted the boys, he took them in because he saw potential. But he never really wanted her. He didn't even love her mom, why would he love her? He was just too honorable to kick her out, saw her as a responsibility. He never viewed her as his daughter. Not really. 

Aurora closed her eyes. She could feel the tears dwelling up, the burning grief and the rage inside her chest, pounding and screaming. Well...what did she expect? He was Bruce Wayne. He never showed his true feelings, to no one. And she wasn't special just because she was his biological daughter. No...that didn't mean anything. A single tear escaped her dark lashes and rolled down her cheek. Quickly she wiped it away. He wasn't worth her tears, at least not anymore. 

Aurora walked towards her bed. It was her safe zone since Jason had died. She grabbed a pillow and pressed it against her face. A muffled scream echoed through her room, that seemed too big and too cold to just belong to one person. Of course, it hadn't always been this way. After she and Jason had found each other, he left his room every night, walked through the floors of the mansion, careful not to alert anyone, and snuck into her room. They shared her ridiculously large bed and she felt safe lying in Jason's arms, feeling his heartbeat beneath her fingers. 

Now the sheets only harbored a distant memory of those gentle moments. She held onto them at night, when the dreams came. Dreams of Jason's bloody and beaten body and the sound of the explosion that still lived inside her head. Aurora tucked the pillow under her head and pulled her knees to her chest. Maybe she could get two or three hours of sleep before the nightmares invaded her mind. She closed her eyes and drifted off a few minutes later. But it wasn't long until Jason's screaming nearly gave her a heart attack. 

"Great...", Aurora sighed and rolled onto her back. But there was no way of going back to sleep now. Grumbling she swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She felt like an absolute mess, but oh well not like that was something new. "Maybe I should snatch some of those sleep pills dad keeps in his drawer.", Aurora thought out loud, while she walked down the stairs and straight into the kitchen. She flipped on the light and opened the fridge. "Alright Alfred, where do you keep...?" 

The door threshold creaked and Aurora almost jumped and grabbed a large kitchen knife, pointing into the direction from where the noise came. "S-Sorry, it's just me..." Tim stood there, arms up and looking scared as hell. Aurora sighed and put the knife on the counter. "My God, don't you ever do that again." She closed the fridge and went through her hair. "And take your arms down, you look ridiculous."

Tim cleared his throat and tangled his hands behind his back. "I'm sorry...I know you don't like me...", he mumbled and focused on his tiny toes. Aurora rolled her eyes. Perfect, now she made a little kid sad. Just fucking perfect. "Hey uhm...it's not what you think, Tim." The boy looked up, hope burning bright in his blue eyes and Aurora's heart flinched in pain. "Really?" A smile formed on his lips. "But...what you said when Batman brought me here..." The smile died. 

"It's not about you, Tim. Nothing that I said had something to do with you.", Aurora explained and walked towards the kid. "I'm sure you're a great little guy. You're a clever one, right?" "Yep, I've got the best grades in my class.", Tim declared proudly, tightening his shoulders. "Really? Well, that's good, if you wanna be Robin you must be smart." Aurora kneeled down so she wasn't towering over Tim. It felt too much like her father. 

"You think I'm gonna be Robin?" Tim smiled happily and Aurora could feel his little heart was overflowing with joy right now. "That's why he took you in.", she said. "Yeah...but you didn't seem to be happy about that. Why?" Tim tilted his head a little bit, almost piercing her with his curious gaze. Fuck, he really was a clever kid. 

"Uhm...you know that's kind of a long story.", Aurora said, trying to maneuver around this talk. "I can't sleep.", Tim replied as if this was an adequate explanation and sat down at the kitchen table. "Ugh for god's sake, okay. But we'll need some hot chocolate or I'm not gonna make it to the end of this convo." "Hot Chocolate sounds super good." He was grinning now, his skinny legs dangling from the edge of the seat.

Aurora smiled and opened the fridge again. Her hot chocolate wasn't as good as Alfred's (that stuff was pure magic) but it would do the trick. 

"Alright, be careful. It's still hot." She put the two cups down. Tim looked at his for a second. "Do you have whipped cream?", he asked. "Whipped cream? Ah I see, you're a man with taste." Aurora got the whipped cream and Tim sprayed a concerning amount of it onto his hot chocolate. "Okay, I'm done. You can start." Aurora put her hands on the warm cup, the heat crawling up her arms, making her shiver in a good way. "Alright, let's go then..."


	3. A warm welcome and a lesson

"Okay, where do I start?" Aurora chewed on her lip, thinking of the best possible way to tell this story without scarring Tim for life. 

"Well, I'm sure you know that there were other Robins before you, right?" Tim nodded. "Yeah, I know." Aurora smiled. Tim's enthusiasm was so pure and innocent. "Okay good, uhm the first Robin was Dick Grayson. But I think you now know him as Nightwing." "Nightwing was Robin? Woah..." Tim sounded baffled, his eyes big with this weird fascination that only children can radiate. "Yep and technically he's also my big brother.", Aurora further explained and she noticed how she sounded a little bit proud of herself. 

"That's so cool, really. And Batman is your dad, right?" Tim was now all ears and completely tied up with excitement. Aurora nodded, feeling her throat suddenly tightening. "Yep...but we're not on good terms right now..." "Because of...what was his name? Jason?", Tim asked and took a sip from his cup, smearing whipped cream all over his face. "Yeah, Jason. He was the second Robin after Dick left to become Nightwing. And uhm...how do I say this?" She paused for a moment, but really it wasn't that complicated. Actually, it was pretty simple. "We were in love, Jason and I. He was my first great love and he meant a lot to me." A slight blush formed on Tim's sugarcoated cheeks and he smiled. He was too young to know what love really meant but Aurora was sure that he got the basic idea of it. 

"But he and Batman didn't get along after some time, because Jason was...rebellious. He was nothing like Dick, he was a bit troubled. His childhood wasn't easy.", Aurora continued. "But I think he still was a good Robin.", Tim threw in, slurping more of his hot chocolate. "I think it would've made him very happy to hear that from you.", Aurora sighed. 

Jason always thought he wasn't good enough. Not good enough to be Robin. Not good enough for Batman. Not good enough for her. He wasn't able to see what she saw. A young man that had to endure far more than he should have and that still wanted to be good, to be better, and to help the people of Gotham. 

"And what happened then?", Tim wanted to know, eager to unravel the whole story. "Well...things got very very bad and the Joker kidnapped Jason. He hurt him...a lot and Batman and I wanted to save him but we were too late. And Jason died." Aurora looked down into her cup, the hot chocolate wasn't hot anymore and her voice felt shaky and weak. "Batman couldn't save him?", Tim asked, sounding like he couldn't believe that the hero failed and the villain won.

"No...and losing someone you love that much hurts a lot, I'm sure you know that. But it also makes you angry and you want to blame someone because otherwise, you would blame yourself and that destroys you." Her voice broke, the burning of future tears made her blink and suddenly she just wanted to leave and hide in her room. Because talking about Jason hurt. Because just thinking of him hurt even more. Because she missed him with every fiber of her body. 

"But...heroes always save everyone." Aurora lifted her head. Tim's tiny hands were now clinging to the cup, his small face was scrunched together. The shattering illusion of an almighty hero was written all over him, from his trembling lips up to his eyebrows, pulled together in stoic disbelief. Aurora reached out to him, pulled both of his hands into hers. "No Tim, they don't. I know that's what you wanna believe but it's a lesson you will learn and it's better you learn it now than the hard way." Tim sniffled and then nodded. He wanted to be strong, to show that he was tough enough to become Robin. 

"You cannot save everyone. I know that hurts but you can't burden yourself with that. It's not your duty to keep everyone safe. If you tried your best then that's good enough. And if you still failed that's not your fault, okay?" Aurora looked Tim in the eye. He needed to understand what she was saying. That way he wouldn't be growing up on the ideal of being the perfect hero who would always save the day. 

"Okay.", Tim said, still sounding sad, but he quickly wiped a tear away that wanted to escape the corner of his eye. "Good, come here. I think we both need a hug." Aurora spread her arms and Tim didn't hesitate. He got up, walked around the table, and almost flung himself into that hug. And god knows she really needed that hug. It felt good having a heartbeat against your own and it kind of reminded her of the fact that she was indeed alive.

She had felt like a ghost that past year and it needed a little boy to remind her that her heart was beating and her blood pulsing. A little boy that was so much like Dick and Jason and yet so different. But she knew why Bruce took him. Not only because he was an orphan that needed his help but because Bruce was able to see beyond that. He was able to see what those boys would be able to become. And he failed so miserably with Jason that he wanted to prove that he could do better. 

"I'm sorry that you lost your love...", Tim mumbled against her chest and his grip around her waist tightened a bit. 

There it was again. That painful burning inside of her, but this time she wouldn't run away. This time she stayed, hugged Tim even more as tears began streaming down her face. The boy didn't say a word. He just stood there, as close as possible and after a minute or two, he began stroking her back. Small movements, up and down, to reassure her that he was with her and that he wouldn't leave her alone. 

Aurora didn't know how long they stood there, but that wasn't important. Healing wasn't bound to something like time. It had its own dynamic and it was different for everyone.

"Alright, come on now. It's time for you to go to bed.", she said after a few more minutes, gently stroking through Tim's dark hair. They emptied their cups of hot chocolate, put them in the sink, and left the kitchen. While slowly walking back upstairs Tim took Aurora's hand and squeezed it a little bit. "If I have a nightmare...can I come to your room?", he asked without looking at her. Aurora smiled. "Of course you can, Tim. You can always come to me, no matter what."

She brought him back to his room, even tucked him into bed, and sat down for a moment. "No matter what happens...we're family now. Okay?" Tim smiled and nodded, happy to know that he was never going to be alone again. Aurora switched off the light and then returned to her own bedroom. And though there still was this overwhelming sadness that hung in the air and seeped through the shadows...there was something new now. Something warm and welcoming. Something that would protect her at night, when the nightmares would come. 

Aurora changed into something more comfortable, crawled beneath her blanket, and closed her eyes. The pain was still there, but right now it was kind of numb. Which only left the good stuff behind. The gentle memories of Jason and now Tim as her new little brother. She wasn't alone anymore. There was Jason, always a part of her, always right beside her and Tim. The boy she didn't know she needed in her life. 

Aurora closed her eyes and for the first time in a year...she slept peacefully and without a drop of guilt darkening her dreams.


End file.
